Athletes' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Concussions

Concussions are a serious injury with significant short and long-term consequences. With the increasing awareness of the dangers of concussions, research has been directed toward educating coaches, athletes, and clinicians about this condition. The purpose of this study was to evaluate DII football athletes’ knowledge and attitudes toward concussion, so we can determine what education is necessary to better inform them, in order to be able to conduct a more efficient evaluation. A total of 55 male football athletes from NCAA DII institutions agreed to take part in the survey on a voluntary basis. Subjects completed a survey assessing athletes’ knowledge and attitudes toward concussions. Survey questions included those on concussion symptoms, return to play guidelines, and education they received about concussions prior to taking this survey. The results of the study indicated that the majority of subjects had received some type of education on concussions. There were no statistically significant changes observed among any of the survey questions regarding knowledge and attitudes toward concussions, except for one which addressed the long-term effects of returning to play too soon following a concussion. Other significant findings were related to return to play protocol. Based on the results of the study, we determined that DII football athletes are well-informed about concussions, but that this general knowledge does not necessarily facilitate an attitude change in how they perceive concussions. Future efforts should be directed toward evaluating the effectiveness of concussion education for specific changes in overall perception, causing athletes to report concussions on a more consistent basis, regardless of the severity of the symptoms or the situation in which the concussion is sustained.